


Domestic

by retts



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Codependency, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining...eventually, Sex...eventually, Sexual Tension...eventually, Slow Build, Supposedly Straight People Not Acting Very Straight, Ziam hijacked my brain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:38:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retts/pseuds/retts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Liam and Zayn decide to buy a house together. It can only improve their friendship. Right?)</p><p> </p><p>‘You’re not having second thoughts, are you?’ asked Liam, disturbing the silence. His gaze was still on his mobile. ‘I mean, it’d be too late, since we’ve already signed the papers and everything, and we’re moving in this weekend.’</p><p>Zayn shook his head. ‘Nah, I’m pretty excited, actually.’</p><p>A smile curled at the corners of Liam’s lips. ‘Yeah?’</p><p>‘Sure,’ said Zayn, his eyes slipping closed. He’d got up at a disgustingly early hour this morning. ‘You’ll be there all the time, catering to my every whim. What’s not to love?’</p><p>Liam’s tone was dry. ‘You do know I’m not there to be your slave, right?’</p><p>‘Keep telling yourself that, Li. I’ll have you on your knees and wearing a collar in no time.’</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Liam and Zayn Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Hm. I don't even know. I've actually written the ending to this one, so. Endings are so much easier to write than everything else but I've got a good general idea about where this goes. 
> 
> Also, you know, just follow my timeline, yeah? This won't deeply delve into their lives as members of a boy band, though. Groovy? 
> 
> And the chapters will definitely get longer if I have anything to say about it.

 

 

Someone jostled Zayn awake and he swore to God he’d kill Harry when a distinctly not-Harry voice whispered, ‘Zayn, Zayn, I’m sorry, did I wake you?’

‘What do you think?’ mumbled Zayn irritably, keeping his eyes closed as he made room for Liam on the bed. He would never kill Liam, not even for disrupting his sleep. The other boy had an endless supply of Get Out of Jail Free cards when it came to Zayn. 

Liam cuddled into his side, face pressed into the crook of Zayn’s neck, arm and leg thrown over him for good measure, and Zayn finally woke up completely. Liam was rarely this needy and was usually the one who had to endure the other lads sneaking into his bed for comfort or therapy.

Frowning, Zayn turned to face Liam but the hand on his hip tightened. ‘Li, you alright?’

‘I’m not sure,’ was Liam’s muffled answer.

Zayn rubbed at his eye with a fist and glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table. 2:13am. _Fucking hell_ , he thought. Out loud he asked, ‘What’s wrong?’

It took Liam a moment to reply and when he did, his voice was shaky. ‘It’s officially the end of an era.’

‘What?’

‘Dani and I - we broke up. For good.’

Zayn blinked at the Liam-shaped shadow in his arms. He hadn’t expected that. His brows furrowed and he rubbed a hand over Liam’s prickly scalp. ‘Did she cheat on you again?’ he asked sharply.

He felt Liam shake his head and then push his big nose into Zayn’s neck. ‘No. She didn’t. We had a talk about us, how "us" wasn’t really working.’

Zayn made a thoughtful sound. ‘I thought it was.’

With a sigh, Liam scooted back a little but kept his arm over Zayn’s waist. Zayn turned to his side and there was enough light from the bare window for Zayn to see Liam’s face, his eyes pinched sadly at the corners. 

‘I suppose I wanted it to so I pretended it was,’ Liam confessed. ‘I mean, I loved her, you know?’

Zayn didn’t know because his relationships had never been that serious. He knew Liam, though, and how the other boy loved with everything he was. Zayn kept quiet, his thumb making gentle motions on Liam’s cheekbone.

Liam bit his lip and peered up at Zayn. He hesitated before whispering like it was a secret: ‘I’m sort of relieved, actually.’

One corner of Zayn’s mouth quirked up. ‘Yeah?’

‘But still sad,’ added Liam hastily. His mouth tugged down in a decidedly puppy-like way that always made Zayn want to hug the hell out of him. ‘We had some good times, Dani and I, and I wanted to get back to that. Feel that way again, when everything in my life was finally falling into place.’

Zayn hummed.

Liam lifted his arm off Zayn and waved it gently in the air. ‘It’s better this way, though. To have proper closure and stuff, I guess.’

Zayn hummed again. Fingers tickled his jaw. That was nice.

‘Thanks, Zayn, for being such a good listener.’ Liam snorted softly. ‘Though I reckon that’s because you’re half-asleep.’

Eyes snapping open, Zayn said, ‘I’m not - ‘

Liam smiled at him.

‘It’s two in the morning,’ grumbled Zayn, tugging on Liam’s sleeve to make him wriggle closer. ‘And I _was_ listening, you twit. You know what I’m going to say anyway.’

‘I always do,’ replied Liam solemnly and tapped his temple. ‘We have a mental connection.’

‘Yeah, so you know, it’s alright that you’re relieved. Means you made the right decision, yeah? I don’t even know why you got back with her in the first place.’

‘To recapture the magic,’ said Liam, placing his head on Zayn’s chest and forcing Zayn to lie on his back. He slipped an arm round Liam’s shoulder and held him close. It wasn’t often that Zayn and Liam were this tangled together when they talked and Zayn took advantage of it. Liam was very firm and warm, the most reassuring thing in the world that Zayn had ever come across.

‘See, that’s where you made a mistake, Li: the magic was already gone. Besides, she _cheated_ on you. Dunno how you could forgive her.’

‘She had good reasons. I was always gone and I didn’t ring enough - ‘

‘Bullshit,’ Zayn told him. ‘Ought to have broken up with you before hooking up with someone else.’

Liam huffed, sounding partly amused, partly exasperated. ‘You’ll never let it go, huh?’

‘No way, man. No one messes with my bros, especially if it’s you. Remember how you kept crying last year? That was rough.’

‘Thanks for bringing it up,’ said Liam wryly. ‘I might just cry now.’

‘Will you?’

Liam sounded thoughtful and bemused at the same time. ‘I don’t think so. It’s weird. I’m grieving for my relationship but I mostly just want to sleep with you.’

‘Liam, I’m flattered,’ Zayn teased, pressing a sloppy kiss to the corner of the other boy’s mouth. ‘You know you’re welcome for a shag any time.’

Fingers pinched Zayn’s waist. ‘Idiot. Not when your hair’s like _that_.’

Zayn ran a hand consciously through his hair. ‘Sod off.’

‘I can tell you’re pouting, Zayn.’

‘I am going to kick you out of my bed,’ warned Zayn.

Giggling, Liam brushed his nose against Zayn’s sleep shirt.

A faint smile curled Zayn’s lips. He was relieved. The last time this happened, Liam had been a wreck. Zayn had itched to punch someone every time Liam looked distressed or close to tears.

‘I can’t wait for the media to find out,’ Liam mumbled grimly. ‘The Sun’s going to run away with this story.’

Zayn smirked. ‘Especially considering it’s only been a week since Valentine’s.’

Liam groaned and tapped his fingers on Zayn’s belly. ‘I am so glad we’re going home in a few days.’

‘What’re you planning to do?’ asked Zayn, yawning into Liam's short hair.

‘Have Mum fuss over me. Eat unhealthy food. Sleep. Watch telly. Be normal for a bit.’

‘Sounds ace.’

‘Yeah. You?’

‘Same.’ Zayn thoughtfully frowned. ‘Maybe look for a new place.’

‘What’s wrong with your flat?’

Zayn shrugged lightly. ‘Nothing really. Just not feeling it anymore. I reckon maybe I’d fancy a house.’

Liam made a noise in his throat, and then he chuckled. ‘We should buy a house together.’

Zayn laughed and lightly knocked him on the back of his head. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

‘Nope.’ Liam sat up and glanced down at Zayn, who arched an eyebrow at him. ‘My flat’s full of memories. Fresh start and all that. And a house sounds brilliant. We’d need a swimming pool and extra rooms for the lads and a nice garden.’

‘A swimming pool when I don’t know how to swim,’ Zayn pointed out. 

Liam grinned. ‘You can tread water in the shallow end. Or finally let me teach you.’ 

‘Right, what does that entail, exactly? Pushing me in when my back’s turned?’

‘I’m not _Louis_ ,’ protested Liam, sounding scandalised. He slapped Zayn's chest in mock-hurt. ‘I would never do that to you, heart of my heart. But, you know, we don’t really need a pool as long as we can have, like, a game room.’ 

Smiling, Zayn said, ‘A semi-detached terrace house in the suburbs where the media can’t bother us.’

‘Perfect, yeah?’ Liam looked genuinely excited and Zayn’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

‘You’re actually serious, Li.’

Liam nodded and poked Zayn’s chest. ‘Utterly.’ They shared a grin; it was one of the words Liam had picked up from Zayn. ‘Think about it, Zayn: you and me and a big house. You could have an entire room for your art. We’d put up a music studio and a gym. You could ignore me as much as you want and I’d do the same - well, most of the time, since you’re hard to ignore and you whine if I don’t pay attention to you. You’re a tidy chap, as am I, and we’d have weekly film marathons or something.’

Zayn scratched his stubble. ‘Well - ’

Liam stuck out his lower lip. ‘Don’t you want to live with me? I’m gutted. There was a time you said you’d live anywhere with me. How quickly people change when they become famous.’

Rolling his eyes, Zayn yanked him down and cuddled into his side, reversing their earlier positions. ‘I’m thinking about it.’

The other boy sighed and dragged the duvet over both of them. ‘Think faster.’

‘Rude. I can’t function at - 3:05, Christ.’

‘Good thing we have nothing scheduled in the morning,’ mused Liam. He sounded sleepy all of a sudden. He nuzzled into Zayn’s hair. ‘Sorry I woke you up, okay?’

‘Liam, it’s fine.’ Zayn let the steady heartbeat under his ear drown out everything else in his head. ‘I’m glad you came to me. S’what best mates are for.’

Zayn waited for Liam to say something because Liam never let something so sappy pass by without a comment, but when he glanced at him, Liam was already asleep. Zayn shook his head and placed his chin on Liam’s shoulder. He exhaled softly and closed his eyes.

Live with Liam? Now there was an idea.

 

 

 


	2. Liam and Zayn buy a house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like I'm not British, I'm not European, or even American. Suffice to say I do watch a lot of shows and films and read stories from those areas, and I do (very minimal haha) research and, well. Yeah. Plus, I know nothing about buying or maintaining the sort of house I imagine Zayn and Liam live in, okay? 
> 
> And the chapters will get longer, I swear. I'm just, you know, warming up *cracks fingers* :D

 

 

The estate agent, Jill, showed them the last house on her list. It was in the sort of neighbourhood Liam was afraid to cough in and then be accused of bringing the plague to respectable people. 

‘It’s like we’re in _Made In Chelsea_ ,’ whispered Liam to Zayn as they trailed after Jill through the house.

Zayn snickered and elbowed him in the ribs. ‘You _love_ that show, don’t lie.’

‘I don’t love it,’ Liam protested with a grin, ‘but it’s like a train wreck, you know? Can’t look away until you know who’s sleeping with who.' 

‘Whom,’ corrected Zayn automatically.

Amused, Liam gave the other boy a push forward. Zayn stumbled, caught his footing, and whirled round to punch Liam on the shoulder. Liam expertly stepped aside and stuck out his tongue. Zayn scowled – Liam could see the corners of his lips twitching, though – and put up his fists.

‘Are you really going to fight me?’ asked Liam cockily.

Zayn lifted his chin. ‘Bring it on, Payne.’

They circled each other, making faces, and Liam playfully jabbed at Zayn. Zayn ducked and swerved, suddenly going behind Liam, and Liam turned in a circle just as Zayn put him in a headlock, rubbing the top of his head with a fist and cackling triumphantly.

‘Who’s the man now, Payne?’ Zayn demanded.

Liam grabbed Zayn’s forearms and in a neat move, twisted Zayn’s arms behind him, reversing their positions. ‘You were saying, Malik?’ Liam said sweetly.

‘Tosser!’

‘What?’ Liam ghosted his other hand down Zayn’s side, slipping accurately over the ticklish spots he’d memorised on the third day of being lumped together in a boy band. 'I couldn't hear you over the sound of my brilliance.'

‘Liam, don’t! Stop!’ Zayn giggled hysterically and tried to frown at the same time. ‘I give up! You’re the best, you rule the world, you’re Batman, Liahahahaha!’

There was a sharp cough behind them and Liam released Zayn suddenly, automatically reaching out to steady him when he teetered. Jill pursed her lips.

‘Sorry, we got distracted,’ Liam apologised, widening his eyes innocently. Zayn leant against Liam and gave a breathless snort.

‘If you two are done mucking about, perhaps we could get back to the tour?’ asked Jill archly.

‘Yes, of course, what we’ve seen is lovely so far,’ said Liam with a bright smile.

Jill spun on her heels and climbed up the staircase, but not before they spied the faint blush staining her cheeks. 

‘Puppy,’ Zayn murmured and slung an arm round Liam’s waist. ‘Come on, babe, let’s see the rest of this place.’

Liam placed his own arm over Zayn’s shoulders and followed after the estate agent. She was describing the overall architectural theme of the house, manicured hand moving in sharp gestures.

Zayn tipped towards Liam and whispered, ‘Look at this staircase, fantastic. Mahogany. Not too high, not too low. Perfect for walking up and down.’

Liam bit down on his lower lip to stifle his laugh. ‘Don’t be mean.’

Ignoring him, Zayn pointed at the windows. ‘High, arching windows to let plenty of light in. Very useful for spying on Naked Fat Guy and Other Semi-Dressed People.’

Liam giggled into his fist, and Zayn’s own smile widened.

‘And here - ’

He stopped abruptly, hand dropping to his side. Zayn’s eyes were wide and Liam peered over the other boy’s shoulder with bristling curiosity. ‘Zayn, what is it? Have you seen a ghost?’

They were stood on the doorway of a fairly spacious room with the same cream walls as the rest of the house. The floor was bare and there were windows everywhere, letting in light that illuminated every corner. Liam could see the rest of the neighbourhood out of one window while the other side looked out to the back garden.

A smile tugged on Liam’s lips. ‘Found your studio, have you?’

Zayn nodded dazedly. ‘It’s _perfect_ , Li. Light coming in from every direction. Imagine the colours at sundown.’

Liam nodded, though he couldn’t, not really. Not in the same way Zayn did, anyway.

‘Mr Payne, Mr Malik?’ Jill sounded exasperated as she approached them. ‘I was going to show you the master bedroom and loft – ’

Liam tore his gaze away from Zayn’s besotted face. ‘Don’t worry about it, Mrs Carter; I’m sure they’re brilliant. We’ll take the house.’

Zayn blinked. ‘Liam - ’

‘Don’t even pretend, Zayn.’ He nudged the other boy with a roll of his eyes. ‘I’m good with this place and it’s got the best art room out of all the houses we’ve seen.’

A smile played on Zayn’s lips, his eyes lighting up. He threw his arms round Liam’s shoulders and squeezed him tightly. ‘Thanks, Li,’ he mumbled into Liam’s ear. Liam hugged him back with a chuckle.

They pulled apart when Jill cleared her throat. She had a professionally cool look on her face.

‘Shall we go over the necessary paperwork, then?’

 

 

 

They were in Niall’s flat a few nights later with the rest of the lads. They’d pushed all the lounge furniture against the walls and spread out blankets in the middle of the floor. Harry and Niall were playing FIFA on their PSPs, socked feet kicking at each other whilst yelling ‘Foul!’ and ‘You sneaky bugger!' 

Louis and Liam were talking quietly on the other side of the blankets, Zayn squished between them with his head on Liam’s shoulder. He turned a page on _Prisoner of Azkaban_.

‘How’s the house hunting going?’ asked Louis, sipping his beer. It was probably his fifth of the night. Liam couldn’t help the slightly worried look he gave Louis, but Louis didn’t notice.  

Letting out a soft sigh, Liam eventually smiled and rubbed at his nose. ‘Brilliant. We’ve actually found the perfect one already.’

‘Yeah? Can’t believe you two are getting a house together. That’s _soooo_ domestic.’ He poked at Zayn’s cheek, and Zayn huffed and elbowed Louis away, shuffling closer to Liam. Louis barked out a laugh. ‘See? That’s adorable.’

‘Malfoy’s such a pillock,’ mumbled Zayn to himself, eyes rapidly eating up the words on the page.

‘He’s so out of it.’ They shared a grin over Zayn’s head. ‘How many bedrooms?’ asked Louis.

‘Enough for all of us,’ said Liam, ‘and it’s got an underground swimming pool and an art room for Zayn; it’s amazing, you should see it, with its space and light and other words Zayn used to describe it. We’re thinking of converting the loft into a music studio. It’ll be great! Cost me an arm and Zayn a leg, but definitely worth it.’ He waved a hand in the air and then patted Zayn’s fluffy hair. ‘Oh, we’ve got the sweetest garden as well, with a terrace and everything. It’s all rather embarrassingly posh.’

There was a strange smile on Louis’ face as he listened to Liam, one side of his mouth pulled higher than the other. The sight of it caused heat to flare up Liam’s cheeks; his chest felt tight and uncomfortable for some reason.

His tone was slightly defensive when he asked, ‘What?’

The smile widened. ‘Nothing, Li. Just had a lovely thought. I think it’s fantastic that you two are moving in together. Don’t you agree chaps?’

Niall growled and shoved his toes into Harry’s side. ‘Get off my Suarez, Hazza!’

‘Make me,’ challenged Harry with a smirk. ‘Your Liverpool is no match for my Tottenham. Eat Gareth Bale, you little Irish shit!’

‘Chaps!’ 

Liam laughed when the other two continued to ignore Louis. This was nice. It had been nearly two weeks since they’d last got together and even longer, probably before their world tour, when they had just hung out as five normal, lazy boys. The tour had been more than Liam could ever describe but he also missed this kind of relaxed atmosphere.

Until Harry started stripping.

‘Hazza!’ cried Liam, clapping a hand over his eyes. ‘Why are you taking your clothes off?'

'When is he ever fully-dressed?' asked Louis. 

Zayn snorted, ‘Snape in a dress, classic,’ and ignored everyone else.

‘Strip FIFA,’ Harry replied matter-of-factly. He threw his jumper down and pointed at Niall. ‘You’re going to lose your trousers, Horan.’

Louis snickered, grabbed a cushion, and aimed it at Niall’s face. It collided with a loud _thwack_.

They - except for Zayn and a spluttering Niall - erupted into giggles. Still laughing, Liam rolled onto his side, propped up on his elbow. Zayn frowned and glanced at him.

‘Liam,’ he whined. ‘Pillows don’t move.’

Liam made a face at him. ‘I am a _human_ being, Zayn, not your personal cushion.’

Zayn pouted and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Louis snaked an arm round his shoulders and hauled Zayn to his side, saying, ‘I’ll be your pillow, Zayn. You know I’ll make it good for you.’

Zayn pushed him away with a smirk. ‘Sorry, Lou, but you’re too tiny. Also: gross.’

Making a moue of displeasure, Louis grabbed Zayn’s shoulders, planted his right foot against Zayn’s hip, and shoved him towards a giggling Liam. Zayn yelped at the sudden movement and his glasses slipped off his face, dangling on one ear.

‘That was uncalled for!’ snapped Zayn as he blinked at the ceiling. ‘ _Liam,_ Lou’s being a prat.’

Liam reached over and straightened the other boy’s glasses. ‘You two are so weird.’

‘You’re the weird ones,’ Louis countered before burrowing into the mess of blankets and sighing. ‘God, you two are so domestic and you haven’t even moved into your house yet.’

There was a loud whoop and the three glanced over to where Harry was thumping Niall’s shoulder with his fists, chanting, ‘Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!’

Grumbling, Niall squirmed out of his trousers and threw the garment directly at Harry’s face. ‘There, happy?’

Harry beamed and tossed the trousers somewhere in the clutter that always seemed to follow them around. His dimples looked wickedly satisfied.

Liam cleared his throat. ‘Are we interrupting something? Maybe we should leave you two alone for your “Strip FIFA”.’ He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.        

‘Air quotes, how adorable,’ remarked Louis in a dreamy voice. 

‘Louis is officially drunk and from now on everything will be cute and adorable to him, probably including Niall’s dick,’ said Zayn. He snatched Louis’ beer and raised it up in a toast. ‘To Niall’s small dick!’

Harry rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach as he shrieked with mirth. Niall tugged on Harry’s hair and flipped Zayn off at the same time. ‘Fuck you, Malik,’ he said flatly. ‘My dick’s definitely bigger than yours.’

Zayn shifted onto his stomach and leered. ‘That’s not what your mum thinks.’

Niall flushed a dark red and Harry wheezed into his elbow.

Liam choked on his drink and covered Zayn’s mouth with his hand. ‘Okay, that was disgusting, Zayn. Like, _ugh_. Mrs Horan is our honorary Mum! God! Go back to your Harry Potter, you twisted person.’

Zayn looked at him hopefully from under his eyelashes and Liam yielded barely a second later with a sigh; he was a sucker for those dark spidery wisps, especially with the hipster glasses framing them. ‘Fine, I’ll be your pillow again.’

‘Get a room, you two,’ Niall called to them.

Zayn raised an eyebrow at him smugly. ‘Got a whole house, mate.’

Harry fussed with his hair (sweep-sweep-flip) and sat up, leaning heavily against Niall. ‘You bought a house already? That was quick.’

Louis fell asleep with a soft snore.

‘Yeah, at Belgravia. Right next door to some Duke.’ Zayn made himself comfortable using Liam’s stomach as a pillow, his legs bent at the knees and hardbound book propped on his lap.

Liam sniggered as Niall and Harry gaped at them.

‘You’re joking,’ said Harry loudly.

Zayn looked at them, face perfectly serious. Liam held his breath for a second before he had to release his laughter or risk breaking a rib.

‘You need to develop better tolerance, Li,’ Zayn complained, a smirk tugging on his mouth. ‘This is why you always get pranked and not the other way round.’

‘So not Belgravia, then?’ asked Niall. 'No rubbing elbows with the posh?'

‘No,’ said Liam in between chuckles, hand resting on his stomach just beside Zayn’s head, fingertips brushing against the soft black hair. ‘Sorry mate, we're not quite there yet. Our neighbourhood’s still rather nice, though, and the park’s lovely to jog in.’

Harry clucked his tongue and drank from his bottle of Corona. ‘Lucky bastards. Meanwhile I am stuck with that rubbish-magnet over there.’ They all stared at Louis’ slumbering, huddled form with fondness. ‘I swear he just has to look at a corner and all sorts of junk start magically piling up. I have a messy flatmate; he has a maid!’

This was a routine whinge of Harry’s, done once a week to make himself feel better, and they all tuned him out. Well, except for Liam because he was Liam, who made a commiserating noise in the back of his throat and offered a comforting, ‘Perhaps he’ll pick up after himself if you remind him again – gently, Haz. And when I say gentle, I mean don’t throw the bin bag in his face.’

Niall poked Harry’s leg with his big toe and grinned, beckoning him with his PSP. Harry blew out a long breath and lay back down on his stomach, squirming closer to Louis until their heads were slightly touching. Louis slept on peacefully.

‘No Strip FIFA,’ Liam told them firmly.

Both boys shrugged and began pressing buttons wildly. Once in a while an angry curse would slip out, but mostly they played in determined silence. Liam stared up at the ceiling and ran his fingers through Zayn’s hair, gently tugging on some of the knotted bits at the end.

‘Hermione’s slapped Malfoy,’ Zayn told him eventually.

‘Yeah? Good moment, that.’ Liam frowned thoughtfully. ‘When are we going to move in?’

‘Once we’re done packing,’ answered Zayn promptly.

Liam huffed and gave the other boy’s hair a playful yank. ‘Duh, Zayn. I meant when, as in, do you we have a set date?’

Zayn lowered his book and tilted his head back to meet Liam’s gaze. ‘Maybe by the end of the month. Have you already started?’

‘Kind of. Not really a lot I want to bring with me. We still need proper furniture, though, and then we’re off to the studio to work on the third album next month. Then we start touring again in July. I don’t think we’re going to have enough time to get settled.’ Liam worried his bottom lip, fingers of his other hand restlessly plucking at the duvet underneath him.

‘Li, don’t worry about it too much. We’ll make time, yeah? We’re not letting it just be a house we sleep in if we’re in London for a few days; it’s going to be our _home_. It’ll be great, like you said,’ Zayn reminded him with a smile, fingers reaching up to briefly tickle Liam's chin. ‘Just you and me.’

Liam nodded and relaxed. He snickered softly. ‘You, me, and those three wankers, you mean.’

‘Not really,’ said Zayn, gaze returning back to his book, ‘but at the same time, yeah.’

 

 

 


	3. Liam and Zayn move in together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cries* I'm so, so, so sorry this took forever. I am the slowest updater alive, I swear. And this chapter just killed me to write and nothing too interesting even happened and the dialogue and just I kinda don't like this chapter but. Whatever. assjfhdfkjsdhf I'm so glad this chapter is finally out; it was like mentally birthing a baby!!! *weeps even more*
> 
> ps: this is officially au, by the way, and i know nothing about home decoration or home buying or any of that stuff. capice?
> 
> And thank you, thank you, thank you for all the lovely feedback I've gotten. It was literally the only thing that kept me going when I felt like giving up or something. So thank you, it means the world to me, you have no idea :))))

The mattress was soft, so soft that Zayn sank a little in it. He wriggled until he was lying on his left, then shifted until he was on his right, before finally flopping on his back. He crossed his arms behind his head. He tried propping himself up on his elbows. Zayn shook his head and sighed.

‘That’s a no, then?’ asked Liam, sounding equal parts exasperated and amused. ‘

Zayn looked at Liam who was perched on the side of the bed. ‘Liam, it’s too soft. I feel like it’s swallowing me,’ he complained, lifting an arm up towards the other boy. Liam grasped his wrist and tugged him up.   

‘What about this one?’ Liam dragged him off towards the next bed and they sat down, bouncing a little to test the mattress. Zayn made a thoughtful sound. It was a modern four poster bed, the posts and bed frame made out of dark grey metal. The headboard was upholstered a dark blueberry linen. He stroked the fabric contemplatively.

Liam smiled. ‘What do you reckon? Good, yeah?’

‘Time for the final test.’ Zayn dragged Liam down on the bed with him; their knees dangled off the edge. The mattress barely dipped at their combined weight. ‘D’you reckon it’ll hold up during a shag?’ asked Zayn, scuffing the heel of his high-tops against the floor.

Liam snorted. ‘That’s what you’re worried about? We’ve literally looked at hundreds of beds for the past two hours and any of those would’ve worked.’

‘Not hundreds,’ said Zayn with a roll of his eyes. ‘Just because you picked the first bed you saw doesn’t mean I have to as well.’

‘Yeah, only because you’re a choosy bugger,’ said Liam cheerfully. He shifted up on his elbows and glanced down at Zayn. ‘We don’t have all day, you know. We’ve still got to choose a sofa. I reckon that’ll be a whole different battle with you.’

‘I say leather. Black.’ He closed his eyes, folding his hands over his stomach. This bed _was_ massively comfortable, supple but firm, cradling his back just right. Maybe he will get this one - but what if the next bed could literally be the bed of his dreams?

Liam snickered and tugged on a wayward strand in Zayn’s quiff. ‘Of course you would.’ He sounded too fond, amused.

Zayn cracked an eye open to see Liam grinning down at him.

‘You love this bed, don’t you?’ teased Liam with a smug lift to his lips. ‘You’re practically nodding off in the shop.’

Zayn rolled his eyes and grabbed a fistful of Liam’s jumper, using it to pull himself up.

‘Hey, you’ll ruin it!’

‘Is this Louis’?’

‘Yeah, so let go, or Lou will kill you for stretching his favourite jumper.’

‘Well, help me up!’

With a sigh, Liam unfurled Zayn’s fingers one by one and hauled him up with a secure grip on his forearm. ‘You know everyone’s staring at us, yeah? We’ll probably be all over Tumblr in a bit.’

Zayn smiled at him cheekily. ‘I’ve decided to get this one, Li.’

The other boy waved his hands in the air and said, ‘Yay, finally we can move on with our lives!’ in a sarcastic voice.

‘I liked you better when you were shy and sweet,’ Zayn told him with a shake of his head. There was a crooked smile on his face. ‘I regret Louis’ life choice of corrupting you.’

 

 

 

 

 

‘We don’t need curtains at Harrods.’ Liam paused. ‘Do we?’

‘Of course you do,’ their interior designer, Evelyn, replied as she led them to where the curtains were displayed.

‘Of course we do,’ mimicked Zayn with a straight face. He threw a charming smile over his shoulder at the pretty redhead coming out of a jewellery shop. A nanosecond later, her mobile was in her hands and she was giving Zayn and Liam a gleeful look.

One of their bodyguards coughed and shuffled the two boys along faster.

‘Are you sure? Can’t we just, like, pick the first one we see? Something cream coloured or whatever.’

‘What is it with you and choosing stuff right away?’ Zayn placed a hand on Liam’s lower back and nudged him forward. ‘Since you were _so_ nicein waiting for me to choose my bed, I’ll let you decide which one to get. Remember, our mums will be visiting soon. Pick something they’ll like and not passive-aggressively insult.’

Evelyn tutted. ‘Mothers are very hard to please.’

Liam blinked at him in something close to distress. Zayn smiled innocently back.

 

 

 

 

 

Liam wouldn’t budge. He gave Zayn a firm look. Fortunately, Zayn knew exactly how to make Liam melt. He hunched his shoulders a bit, widened his eyes, and stuck out his lower lip ever so slightly.

Liam pointed a finger at him, eyes narrowed. ‘ _No_ , Zayn.’

With a soft sigh, Zayn trailed his fingers over the back of the sofa. ‘It’s quite lovely, though.’

‘You know that if you keep pulling that look it’ll eventually lose effect, right?’ asked Liam, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest.

‘It really is,’ Evelyn piped up, taking a photo of the couch in question. She pursed her lips. ‘It’s very metropolitan bachelor. It would look nice in your lounge, with the modern design we’re after.’

Zayn beamed at her and Evelyn blinked rapidly, cheeks turning a faint pink. ‘See, the professional designer agrees with me.’

Ignoring them, Liam shuffled over to the next sofa on display. ‘This one’s a pretty colour. I like this one, Zayn.’

Zayn pulled a face and refused to budge away from his leather sofa. ‘That looks like the sofa from _Friends_ , Liam.’

Excitement lit up Liam’s eyes as he glanced down at it again. ‘You’re right!’ he exclaimed, sounding delighted. He turned those big brown eyes at Zayn; happy creases appeared around his eyes from the huge grin he was sporting. ‘That’s so cool.’

Zayn’s lips quirked in instinctive reply, heart beating slightly faster, but then he realised what was happening. He narrowed his eyes at the other boy. ‘ _No_ way.’

‘It’s rather eclectic and retro,’ said Evelyn, tilting her head to look at the sofa at a different angle. ‘It could actually work as a sharp contrast to the design of the room.’

This time, it was Liam who turned the full effect of his smile on Evelyn. He flopped down on the burnt orange sofa and patted the space beside him. ‘Come have a sit next to me, Zayn. You’ll like it, I promise.’

‘You aren’t turning the tables on me, Li.’

Liam gave him that sweet, slightly daft smile that made everyone with an X chromosome want to pet him. ‘What tables, Zayn? We’re here to look for the perfect couch.’

‘Oh, fuck off,’ mumbled Zayn resentfully a moment later as he slinked over to Liam in shame, his resolve crumbling like a sand castle on the beach. He sank down beside the other boy, wriggling his bum against the softness. He sighed. ‘Bugger, it is nice.’

Liam wrapped a hand round his shoulders and gave a squeeze. ‘Didn’t I tell you?’

 

 

 

 

 

To: Harry

From: Zayn

_Tell Liam that a trampoline is IMPERATIVE in a new home!! x_

To: Liam

From: Harry

_Liam a trampoline sounds ace_

To: Harry

From: Liam

_NO_

 

To: Zayn

From: Harry

_Sorry mate tried my best_

 

To: Harry

From: Zayn

_Your best sucks_

To: Niall

From: Zayn

_Nialler tell Liam we need a trampoline! x_

 

To: Zayn

From: Niall

_Man your too late! Li already told me its either nandos or trampoline_

To: Zayn

From: Liam

_Give it up Zaynnn_

To: Liam

From: Zayn

_:(_

 

To: Zayn

From: Liam

_Ill buy you dinner to make it up to you now stop texting and talk to meee :)_

 

 

Zayn looked up from his mobile and at Liam’s smirk. ‘Fine, but a trampoline would most certainly be brilliant.’

‘I know, babe. I know. We’re still not getting one, though.’

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t unexpected when all anybody could talk about was the fact that he and Liam bought a house, which was why management had already given them a bulleted list of acceptable answers a week after their decision, but the depth of interest still surprised Zayn. Usually the focus was on Harry and what he was up to, and since Louis came attached to the younger boy, the spotlight included him as well. Zayn had reckoned there would be a question or two, he (or more likely, Liam with a dopey grin) would give an answer and maybe (no, definitely) there would be a few jokes from the other lads about being married. Instead it turned out to be this completely big deal and made Zayn feel wrong-footed and pissed off for some reason.

‘Oh, but what about when you have company over?’ asked Sheila, shiny teeth and hair-flip and all. She smiled sharply at Zayn. ‘You know: intimate company?’

Zayn picked a smile, the one that actually meant _I don’t like you but I’m too polite to really express it_. He cleared his throat and tried to find an appropriate answer. He was unpleasantly aware of the cameras trained on him in a way he hadn’t felt for quite some time.

Then Liam laughed and slung an arm round Zayn’s shoulders, giving him a small shake before dropping down to rest on his waist, fingers sweeping over his shirt in a soothing motion. The tightness in Zayn’s chest loosened a bit and he let more of his weight settle against Liam’s side, instinctively taking comfort from the other boy.

‘That’s something we haven’t talked about yet,’ said Liam brightly, gesturing in the air with the microphone, ‘along with who gets the master bedroom, who does the washing up, who will take out the bin. It’s a process, yeah?’

‘It is, yeah,’ Zayn cut in, throwing a small smile in Liam’s direction, reaching up to run his fingers over Liam’s prickly head in gratitude. ‘Though I bet I can get you to do all of those things, except sleep in the master bedroom, because that’s my room.’

Liam made a face. ‘Uh, no, because we haven’t decided yet, remember?’ He turned to Sheila with an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry about him, he’s rather forgetful. Spacey. He even gets lost in his own head.’

Everyone looked at Liam.

‘That was a horrible joke, mate,’ said Zayn fondly. ‘Save it for Twitter.’

‘You laughed, I heard you,’ said Liam, pointing the mic at Zayn accusingly.

Sheila cleared her throat, a stretched smile on her face. ‘I can already see you two shouting and throwing plates at each other across the table.’

The interview lasted for another fifteen minutes, and Zayn finally breathed a sigh of relief when it was time to say their goodbyes and leave. Liam instantly pulled out his phone as they walked down the corridor but Zayn didn’t miss the worried looks coming his way.

Zayn waved a hand at him. ‘I’m fine, Li. Just tired. That was the fifth time we were asked that question, you know?’

‘Maybe we ought to sort it out soon,’ mused Liam, ‘so we’ll actually have an answer to give. I mean, I don’t think people are going to stop being curious about this. Larry Stylinson must be old news by now, don’t you think? S’why they’re focusing on us or something.’

Mary, one of their PR handlers, stopped walking and looked up from her phone. ‘You wait here whilst the others finish up, boys,’ she said, indicating the door to her left. Her eyes slipped back down to her mobile. ‘Want anything to eat?’

They shared a quick glance. ‘No, we’re good, cheers,’ said Liam over his shoulder as he followed Zayn inside. Zayn instantly went to the mirror and fussed with his quiff, tucking back some of the smaller strands which had fallen over his brow. He saw Liam’s reflection watching him with an amused tilt of his lips, perched on the arm of the sofa. Zayn stuck out his tongue, and with one last tug to straighten his hair, he walked over to the other boy and stretched out on the sofa, nudging at Liam’s hip with the side of his foot.

‘If one of us does have a date and want to bring her home, then it’d be no problem to kip at Harry’s,’ said Liam, reaching over to grab a water bottle from the coffee table. He glanced at Zayn and Zayn shook his head. ‘But you have to give advanced warning, though, and not like, just text me that you’re on your way.’

Zayn chuckled. ‘Planning on having a lot of - how did she put it? - intimate company, Liam?’

Liam rolled his eyes and twisted the bottle cap off. ‘Wipe that leer from your face, babe. It’s disturbing.’

‘Dunno, the girls all seem to like it.’ Zayn crossed his arms behind his head, raised his eyebrows, and gave Liam his best come-hither look.

‘I don’t know why they’re all so in love with your dumb arse.’ Liam took a long drink of his water, head tipped back slightly, and Zayn watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with every swallow. He rubbed the toe of his trainers against Liam’s stomach and Liam shot him an annoyed look, pulling the bottle away and licking his lips. ‘Stop it, you dickhead.’

Zayn pointed at him. ‘And everyone thinks you’re so sweet – oh Liam’s such a lamb, bless – when you swear like a champ.’

‘You try keeping a clean vocabulary when watching sport of any kind,’ said Liam, picking up Zayn’s legs and sliding down onto the sofa. Zayn wriggled his feet comfortably on Liam’s lap. He handed Zayn his water and gave him a look. ‘Here, have some. When’s the last time you hydrated?’

Zayn knew better than to argue with Liam when it came to keeping healthy (the number of times Liam had dragged him out of bed for a jog had reached the triple digits; not that Zayn ever actually went with him) and obediently sipped the tepid water. He scrunched up his face. ‘Should have asked Mary for a beer,’ he remarked after draining the rest of the water.

They were silent for a while, Liam texting on his mobile and Zayn staring at him. He liked looking at Liam who never held back his expressions when it was just them. It wasn’t only his expressions, though. Liam couldn’t go five minutes without moving, whether it was to cross his ankles, tap his fingers, or scratch at his face. He appreciated silence the same way Zayn did, but not stillness. And Liam was calming to look at. A flick of his eyes could soothe whatever chaos was in Zayn’s head. The smallest quirk of his lips blew the nerves away. A nose-wriggle made Zayn relax and laugh. It was Liam’s whole face, really. 

‘You’re not having second thoughts, are you?’ asked Liam, disturbing the silence. His gaze was still on his mobile. ‘I mean, it’d be too late, since we’ve already signed the papers and everything, and we’re moving in this weekend.’

Zayn shook his head. ‘Nah, I’m pretty excited, actually.’

A smile curled at the corners of Liam’s lips. ‘Yeah?’

‘Sure,’ said Zayn, his eyes slipping closed. He’d got up at a disgustingly early hour this morning. ‘You’ll be there all the time, catering to my every whim. What’s not to love?’

Liam’s tone was dry. ‘You do know I’m not there to be your slave, right?’

‘Keep telling yourself that, Li. I’ll have you on your knees and wearing a collar in no time.’

‘Whoa, whoa, keep the shagging talk in the privacy of your own house, will you?’ a scandalised voice said, and Zayn opened his eyes just in time to see Louis jump on top of him. The air wheezed out of Zayn’s lungs and he groaned.

‘Louis, don’t,’ said Liam in amusement.

‘Not the appropriate tone, Liam,’ said Zayn as he tried to shove Louis off of him. Louis grinned and crawled over them to straddle the arm of the sofa, knees and elbows hitting precariously close to sensitive body parts. ‘Oi, be careful! I need those bits!’

Louis snorted and took the water bottle Liam handed him. ‘You’ve not been using your dick these days, Malik. How do you know it hasn’t fallen off from disuse?’

Rolling his eyes, Zayn tried to extend his leg and kick at the older boy. He made an apologetic face when he nearly knocked Liam’s mobile out of his hands. ‘My dick’s perfectly fine, thank you. Would you like a demonstration?’

‘Please don’t,’ Liam said. ‘It’s still light outside, Zayn.’

Louis laughed. ‘You know Zayn can’t keep it in his pants, Liam. You’ll have a hell of a time trying to keep your house from becoming his sex den.’

The door opened and Niall came in with a sandwich. ‘Who has a sex den?’

‘These two,’ said Louis, pointing at Zayn and Liam. ‘Zayn already wants to put Liam in a collar and make him walk on his knees.’

Niall nodded, taking a bite out of his sandwich. ‘Kinky. Go for it, Liam.’

Zayn waggled his eyebrows at Liam. ‘Hear that, babe?’

‘Now I’m having doubts,’ said Liam with a furrowed brow. ‘Okay, that’s it. We’re going to make the house rules right now. Rule number 1: Sex dens are forbidden.’

‘Fuck you, Louis, now you’ve got him making bloody rules.’ Groaning, Zayn sat up and slid his legs off Liam’s lap. Niall plopped down beside him and all three boys craned their necks to peer at whatever Liam was typing out, chortling whenever the phone corrected his misspellings.

Louis placed an elbow on Liam’s shoulder. ‘Look, Zayn, no orgies too.’

‘Don’t I have a say in this?’ Zayn protested. He poked Liam’s cheek with his forefinger.

‘Why are there no orgies?’ asked Harry, slipping inside and closing the door behind him. Louis beckoned him closer. Harry stood beside Louis, leaning into him so he could catch a glimpse of Liam’s phone. ‘Paul says we’ll be leaving in thirty, by the way, and that everyone outside can hear you talking about sex.’

‘Because orgies leave a horrible mess afterwards,’ answered Liam matter-of-factly. ‘Harry, drink.’

‘Come off it, Payne, when’ve you ever participated in an orgy?’ scoffed Louis, who accepted the water bottle Niall tossed him before handing it over to Harry.

Zayn sighed and dropped his head on the back of the couch. ‘You’re ruining this for me, Liam. I’ll never get to have any fun!’ he whined, hiding his smile behind his hand when Liam knocked his foot against Zayn’s.

‘Oh, on the other hand, movie night on Saturdays,’ Harry piped up with a grin, one eye on Liam’s mobile.

Niall and Louis shared a split-second glance before yelling, ‘DIBS!’ at the same time.

Zayn elbowed Louis. ‘I have automatic dibs, you git. I live there.’

‘No, you’re just going to pick Batman, The Avengers, or Harry Potter,’ protested Louis with a shove back at Zayn, ‘over and over again until I’ll want to claw my eyes out. It’s better for everyone involved if we vote on who gets to choose which film to watch on movie nights. It will be a civil and democratic process.’

‘I don’t mind any of those films,’ said Liam with an innocent expression.

‘You don’t get a vote, then, because you two will just pick each other’s favourites,’ said Louis.

Niall propped his feet on the coffee table and crossed his arms. ‘What about you and Harry, then? Can you assure us that you won’t do that as well?’

There was a pause as they all sized up each other. Zayn leant in even closer to Liam and whispered in his ear, smirk tugging on one side of his face. Liam laughed, breaking the silence, and his fingers flew across the keypad. Louis gave them a suspicious look. ‘Liam’s put in an addendum to Saturday nights,’ Zayn told them lazily, ‘that you lot can vote as much as you like but when you step foot into our house, only we can make the final decision.’    

There was a chorus of protests from the other three, Niall pretending to choke on the last bite of his sandwich in outraged shock.

‘And if Zayn and I can’t agree, then I automatically get leadership,’ added Liam, typing that bit in with a little flourish of his wrists. 

Zayn’s head snapped to the side to glare at him in betrayal. ‘What?’

‘Sorry, mate,’ offered Liam, not looking sorry at all.

 

 

 

 

 

Liam’s hybrid was already parked inside the garage by the time Zayn arrived at the house. Pulling beside the kerb, Zayn turned off the engine and grabbed his Louis Vuitton bags from the passenger seat. The front garden was neatly trimmed and the pebbles crunched under his boots. It was a strange sensation to be walking across the carriage driveway of his own house. The front door was unlocked and he stepped right in.

‘Liam! I’m home!’ shouted Zayn, unable to resist. His voice echoed in the empty house. He closed the door with a flick of his foot and wandered to the lounge. His boots created heavy footfalls on the hardwood floor. After dropping his bags in the middle of the room amongst the few boxes they’d already brought in over the past weeks, Zayn went over to one of the wide windows and peered outside. The cream curtains would look lovely with the colour of the walls. At least, Evelyn had said so.

Footsteps sounded behind him and Liam’s aggrieved voice said, ‘What took you so long, Zayn? I’ve been waiting ages.’ 

Zayn spun round, face pulled in an exaggerated expression of guilt. ‘Er - work ran late.’

Arms crossed over his chest, Liam looked unimpressed. ‘Work, work! That’s all you care about these days.’

Zayn moved forward and grinned brightly. He spread his arms wide. ‘I work so we could afford all of this, babe. D’you reckon this stuff’s cheap?’

They stared at each other, Zayn’s eyebrows rising with every second until Liam’s cheeks twitched in amusement. Liam laughed and threw a playful punch to Zayn’s shoulder.

‘“ _I work so we could afford all of this”._ ’ Liam rolled his eyes. ‘That’s such a wanker thing to say.’

‘Then don’t be a nagging wife,’ retorted Zayn.

‘Yeah, a massive wanker,’ mused Liam, ‘and a little bit sexist.’

Zayn huffed and nudged Liam’s foot with his own. ‘I’ve got boxes in my car. Come help me.’

They went outside and Zayn unlocked his car. Liam placed a hand on the roof and looked inside through the driver’s side window. The back was cramped with boxes and together they took what they could carry into the house.

‘Heavy. What are inside these?’ asked Liam as they climbed up the three front steps. If it was anyone else, they would be shaking the box to hear the contents, but not Liam; his face said that he _wanted_ to, though.

‘Er, photos and such, I reckon. The top one has books.’ 

After two trips, Zayn snuck away and left Liam to handle the rest. He wandered up the stairs, peering into more empty rooms. His phone buzzed repeatedly with messages from his family and friends. He’d resolutely turned down their offer to help him and Liam move in, because even if Liam said he didn’t mind, Zayn was all too aware of the chaos his family brought with them.

He passed by of the bigger bedrooms and stepped inside. It was actually connected like the rest of the house, filled with light from the tall windows. This room looked out to the back garden, with its neat colourful row of roses and dahlias and passion flowers. 

The bed could be situated in the left side so he wouldn’t be facing the sunlight in the morning. Zayn hated nothing more than waking up with a glare in his eye. There were probably worse things in the world but not to Zayn, who enjoyed a bit of a lie-in in the mornings.

‘What are you doing?’ Liam’s voice asked from behind him.

Zayn grinned over his shoulder. ‘Decorating my room.’

‘Oh really.’ Liam stood up straighter. ‘You’re already decorating it without telling me? What if I already chose this room?’

Zayn shook his head. ‘You can have the master bedroom, then.’

‘That’s not the point,’ said Liam.

‘What is the point?’

Liam shrugged carelessly. ‘I don’t know. I actually did choose the master bedroom already. It’s not all that much bigger than this one and they both have their own bathrooms, which means I don’t have to wait ages for you to get ready.’

Zayn rolled his eyes and went over to where Liam stood, poking at one of the other boy’s plump cheeks. ‘Don’t be cheeky, Liam.’ He let out a giggle at his own joke.

Liam sighed, his lips tipped up in amusement, and dragged Zayn out by the sleeve of his band shirt. Liam let him have a few more giggly moments in his art room a few doors down before they went downstairs to sort out the things they had brought with them whilst waiting for their furniture to arrive.

They started with the stuff in the lounge, both of them sat on the floor surrounded by boxes. Zayn got out his speakers and plugged in his iPhone, browsing through his playlists before choosing _Fun time with Liam._

The corner of his mouth lifted up when Liam paused in sorting through his collection of Disney DVDs to glance at Zayn in confusion. ‘Your fun time song with me is Hanson?’

‘Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Take That, New Kids on the Block,’ listed Zayn as he ripped off the tape of one box, balled it up, and chucked it over his shoulder. ‘What can I say, you remind me of boy bands, Li.’

‘Right,’ said Liam, sceptical. ‘Some of those are older than we are.’

Zayn tapped his fingers on the flaps as he sang along, smirking at Liam. ‘Mmmbop.’

 

 

 

 

 

‘What’s in the box?’ asked Zayn as he entered the kitchen for something to drink. He’d been slowly transferring his things up to his room and the muscles in his arms were beginning to complain; those hardback books were bloody heavy. Zayn didn’t say anything to Liam, though, because he’d just be dragged off to their gym downstairs and forced to lift weights.

He grabbed one of the glasses Liam had just unpacked, rinsed it under the tap, and filled it up again. He took a sip and navigated his way over to Liam’s side.

‘Pot lids,’ answered Liam as he took two out and placed them on the counter.

Zayn licked his lips. ‘Where are the pots?’

‘I’m not sure,’ said Liam with a tiny furrow between his eyebrows. ‘I packed everything in my kitchen because Mum told me to forget everything else _but_ the kitchenware. I even labelled the boxes. This is the one for pot lids but I’ve no idea where the pots are.’

They looked around the collection of boxes on the floor. About half of them had been unpacked out onto the island counter, which was cluttered with all sorts of plates, glasses, mugs, frying pans, kettles, bowls, and cutlery (with a disproportionate quantity of spoons and forks because Liam didn’t have any of the former). The floor was a minefield of boxes yet to be opened where a few wine glasses had migrated on top of when they’d run out of space on the counter.

Zayn lightly tapped the closest box with the tip of hid Nikes and the sound of glass clinking rang in the air. ‘I don’t think we have enough cupboards for all of these, Li.’

‘I know. We’ll sort it out later. Mum did tell me to buy one of those display cabinets for the good china.’ Liam hummed thoughtfully and wedged another pot lid in between two superhero mugs. ‘Why do we even have this much stuff? We hardly ever spent any time in the kitchen in our flats.’

Zayn bent down and pulled out a grill pan from the depths of a large box with _Malik_ written in broad pen across the flaps. Then he took out a cast iron griddle and looked back and forth between the two items in his hands. ‘This could be useful for intruders. Waaah,’ said Zayn, making exaggerated karate noises as he swung the objects in the air as if fighting ninja assassins. Liam laughed until Zayn took a step too far to the right and his foot knocked over the box of biscuit jars, pepper and salt shakers, and napkin holders.

‘Careful there, Street Fighter.’

Making a face at Liam, Zayn put the pan and griddle away back in its proper box. He thumbed his nose absently. ‘The movers are coming round by 9, yeah?’

‘I reckon so, since you were the one who scheduled it,’ said Liam with a glance at Zayn.

‘Oh, right.’ Zayn sighed. ‘Today is going to be exhausting.’

‘We really don’t have to do a lot, Zayn,’ said Liam, squatting beside a box and peeling off the tape on top before opening the flaps. ‘Hey, I found the pots. Why do they even need separate boxes? Whatever – just, all we need to do is make sure all our furniture arrive and let Evelyn take care of everything else.’

Zayn shrugged and stuck his thumbs into his jeans pockets. ‘I suppose. Are the lads coming?’

‘Would they miss the opportunity to help us move in?’ asked Liam in what Zayn supposed was a rhetorical question, so he just shrugged again, and watched as Liam finished setting all the pots on the floor. Liam frowned at the now empty box. ‘Why did I take them out? There’s literally no space left in the kitchen.’

‘I was waiting when you would notice that, Li,’ said Zayn with a chuckle, reaching down to comb through the short bristles of hair on Liam’s head.

Liam looked up at him and moved his head away. Zayn flicked lightly at Liam’s ear. ‘Are you going to stand there and give useless commentary all day or are you going to help me?’

Zayn raised both hands. ‘Alright, alright, I’ll help.’

‘Thank you.’ Liam directed him towards more things that needed sorting out.

 

 

 

 

 

Someone was trying to break down their front door; at least that’s what it sounded like. Zayn and Liam shared a long look.

‘We ought to get that,’ said Liam, but he didn’t make a single move towards the entrance hallway.

‘Do we really have to?’

‘It could be – ‘

‘Oi, you wankers, open up!’ Harry hollered from outside. ‘Louis is bloody heavy!’

‘I am not. You take that back, Harold!’

‘ – our special friends,’ finished Liam with a laugh.

Zayn grinned and walked towards the front door, stretching his arms over his head. ‘We could use a break anyway.’

Liam snorted and dragged another box towards him. ‘All you’ve done is whine and make sarcastic comments whilst I unpacked your books, your hair products, your action figures, your  - ‘

Zayn glanced over his shoulder so he could stick his tongue out the other boy. The knocking grew louder and faster until Zayn had to jog to the door, shouting, ‘Calm your knickers, boys, I’m coming! It’s actually unlocked you know!’

He grasped the handle and pulled it open, and his eyebrows went as high up as his quiff. ‘Liam!’ he shouted, lips breaking into a grin.

‘No, Louis,’ corrected Louis as he unwrapped a hand round Harry’s neck to point at himself. ‘Have you forgotten your other friends already, Zayn? I knew living with Payne would do this to you. You’re so easily wrapped up by that boy.’

Harry grimaced. ‘Let me through, Zayn.’

Zayn blocked the doorway. He casually fished out his iPhone from his jeans and snapped a picture of them. ‘Liam!’ he called again, tapping open his Twitter and uploading the photo. ‘You’re welcome for helping you two destroy the Internet by the way, you fuckers.’

Louis narrowed his eyes at Zayn. ‘Did you just do what I think you did?’

‘Zayn!’ griped Harry, arms shaking.

‘Maybe,’ drawled Zayn.

‘What’s going on - ’ Liam stopped behind Zayn, one hand closing over Zayn’s hip as he leant forward until his face was visible out of the corner of Zayn’s eye. Zayn angled his head to the side to see better the gobsmacked look on Liam’s face. That was one of his favourites (honestly, they all were, even that disapproving one where the little lines appeared on Liam’s forehead). Liam blinked. ‘Why are you carrying Louis? I imagine he's rather heavy.’

Louis flipped him off. ‘For your information, I am as light as candy floss - ’

‘Stop moving about,’ said Harry through gritted teeth, his face a ruddy shade as he struggled to keep Louis in his arms, ‘or I’ll drop you. I swear I will, Lou.’

Liam made a clucking noise with his tongue. ‘What are you doing?’

Curling his arm round back Harry’s neck, Louis gave Liam a pointed look. ‘We,’ he tugged on a strand of Harry’s hair, ‘are here to do this the right way. I assume you did not do this?’

‘You assumed correct,’ said Liam. He bit down on his lower lip, eyes wide with mirth. ‘Since, you know, we’re not touched in the head.’

There was a gasp from Louis. Zayn snorted and tilted his mobile towards Liam, where his Tweet had already been favourited a few thousand times. The dedication of their fans never ceased to amaze Zayn.

‘Have any of you realised,’ began Harry in a strained voice, ‘that you lot are having a conversation whilst I am carrying roughly 11 stone in my arms all because Louis wants to pretend he’s a fucking bride?’

Liam snickered and prodded Zayn backwards with the hand on his hip. Liam started humming the opening bars of the bridal march and Zayn jumped in, adding his voice to Liam’s own. Harry elbowed them aside, sweat dotting his brow, and Louis pretended to sob in joy into Harry’s shoulder as they finally passed the threshold.

A second later, Harry unceremoniously dumped Louis on his ass and stretched out his back. ‘Bloody hell I’m never doing that again,’ he mumbled, wiping at his face with his palm.

‘Ow.’ Louis rubbed at his hip. ‘A little help here?’ he demanded sharply, gesticulating with his hand in the air.

Zayn ignored him, holding on to Liam’s arm to keep him in place because Liam had this unfortunate tendency of helping people. Louis’ scowl deepened and he turned his head towards Harry. ‘Haz?’

Harry swept his fringe to the side. ‘Nice place you’ve got here, lads. Four floors, right?’

Liam bit down on his smile when Louis spluttered. ‘Yeah, we’ll give you a proper tour once Niall arrives.’

‘Where _is_ the little blond Irish twink?’ asked Zayn. ‘Didn’t you say you were coming together?’ Harry smirked and Zayn rolled his eyes. ‘Shut it, Styles.’

‘You all are terrible people, I don’t know why I’m in a band with you wankers,’ Louis growled as he pushed himself up with his hands. He somehow managed to look down on his nose at them whilst simultaneously keeping his head high as he dusted off his cherry red trousers. His gaze flashed to Liam, who playfully hid behind Zayn. ‘Especially you, Liam Payne. Your mother would be disappointed.’

‘She’s quite proud of me, actually,’ Liam volleyed, tone cheerful, as he dragged all of them back to the lounge. ‘What happened to Nialler?’

‘Jumped out of the car when we passed by the nearest Nandos here,’ said Harry, eyes surveying the mess of boxes on the floor.

Louis asked loudly, ‘Is there any way for a bloke to have some tea around here?’

‘Sorry Lou,’ said Liam, bending down to push at some of the boxes and make space in the middle of the floor, ‘come back tomorrow and you can have tea. I reckon we should phone Niall to get us some takeaway.’

Louis’ groan was drowned out by an Irish voice shouting, ‘No need, lads, I already bought enough food to feed an army!’ He breezed into the room, hands clutching at takeaway bags, a bright smile on his face. He walked over to Liam and gave him a one-armed hug, and Zayn reached out to bump their fists. ‘Front door’s wide open, by the way, if I’d been a fan you lot would be dead. Or molested,’ Niall added.

Liam turned to Zayn with a frown.

‘Not my fault,’ said Zayn instantly. ‘We were both distracted by Louis and Harry.’

‘Why’s that?’ asked Niall. He reached into one of the bags and fished out a chip from its depths. Louis, sat cross-legged beside him, wriggled a hand inside and took out a handful. Liam made a face and grabbed the takeaway bags from Niall and headed towards the kitchen.

Harry grimaced and showed Niall his mobile. ‘#LarryStylinsonNuptials is trending worldwide right now.’

Niall let out an obnoxious laugh. ‘Zayn took the picture but you’ll be the ones in loads of trouble.’

Zayn nodded, smirking widely. ‘I know, isn’t it great?’ Louis chucked an empty box at him, disturbing the careful pile of Zayn’s books near his feet. Zayn frowned and pointed at the scattered items. ‘Stop making an even bigger mess Louis.’

‘The neat freak and the germophobe,’ Harry remarked, amusement lacing through his slow drawl, as he looked up briefly from his mobile, ‘that’s quite a combination.’

‘You’re just jealous because you’re flat’s a pit.’ Liam came back out, hands empty. Niall made a wounded, confused sound. ‘It’s not yet even lunch, Niall. We’ll eat later.’

‘But the food will be cold by then,’ whinged the blond boy, ‘and I know you don’t have a microwave yet!’

Liam huffed. ‘Come on, boys, Zayn and I will give you the official tour!’

 

 

 

 

 

‘The pool’s great!’ Niall explained, reaching down to drag his hands through the surface. ‘How deep is it?’

‘The shallow side’s over there,’ Liam pointed to the far right, ‘and I suppose it’s over six feet deep here.’

‘Zayn can play in the shallow end, then,’ smirked Louis, looking over his shoulder at Zayn who was carefully hovering by the doorway. ‘Come inside, Zayn, we won’t push you in. Too hard.’

Zayn flipped them off, deeply unamused like every other time they made fun of him being unable to swim. ‘Piss off, Louis.’

Harry grinned at him. ‘We’ll buy you floaters in every colour of the rainbow as a house warming gift,’ he teased, sharing a grin with Louis.

‘Yeah, you can go fuck yourself too, Styles.’

Niall went round the pool, staring out the glass windows towards the garden outside. He reached the door on the right side of the room and pushed it open. ‘What’s this, then?’

‘The gym,’ Liam called to him.

‘Zayn’s favourite room, then,’ Louis remarked with a laugh. Harry pretended to shove him into the water and he screeched, hanging on to the younger boy with right fingers. ‘Don’t you dare, Harold; took me ages to put this outfit on!’

‘I know, I was there,’ said Harry with a wink.

‘Can we get on with this tour?’ Zayn asked impatiently, already walking back out onto the hall.

‘You’re only saying that because you want to get as far away from the pool as possible,’ Louis called after him.

Zayn didn’t bother to reply, hearing them follow after him anyway. An arm came round his shoulders and Niall’s perpetually cheerful voice said, ‘Don’t worry, Zayn, Liam said it’s only six feet deep. You can go on your tippy-toes.’

Zayn led them through a door. ‘This is the kitchen. Remember it well, Niall.’

‘I’ve already got the floor plan memorised,’ the blond boy promptly said. ‘Can we eat now? I’m _starving_.’

‘We just started the tour,’ Liam pointed out to him, clearing a path by toeing away the clutter on the floor. ‘It’s been barely fifteen minutes since you arrived!’

Niall grinned over his shoulder. ‘Yeah, but the trip downstairs made me hungry.’

‘ _Breathing_ makes you hungry,’ Louis said.

‘Breathing is hard,’ Niall agreed with a sigh.

Harry was looking around the spacious kitchen in appreciation. ‘Are you even going to cook here?’ When Zayn opened his mouth, he hastily added, ‘Aside from making tea and smoothies, I mean.’

Zayn ducked from underneath Niall’s hold. ‘I can make curries, you know.’

‘Can’t live alone on those, mate,’ said Harry.

They jumped when Niall let out a loud whoop of triumph and took out one of the takeaway bags from inside a pot. ‘Found it! I missed you, baby.’

‘There is something wrong with you,’ Louis remarked with a worried look in Liam’s direction. ‘I think he’s broken, Li.’

Liam rubbed his brow. ‘We can replace him. Find another Irishman. No one will notice.’

‘Bono,’ Zayn piped up, ‘we could hire Bono. He’s the ultimate Irishman.’

Harry burst out laughing, and so did Louis and Liam. Niall’s jaw dropped before he fixed Zayn with an affronted glare. ‘Well, fuck you very much, Malik.’

 

 

 

  

 

‘There’s a problem,’ said Liam, chewing on his thumbnail. He stared at his mobile with knotted eyebrows. ‘That was the moving company. They said they won’t be able to bring all our stuff this weekend because according to them, they have us scheduled for _Tuesday_.’

Zayn blinked. ‘What?’

Liam blinked back. ‘That’s exactly what I told them!’

‘So what you’re saying is that,’ said Zayn slowly, looking around at the other boys, ‘we’re moving in today but we don’t have any furniture, so we’re not really moving in.’

‘I think that’s what Liam said, yes,’ Harry confirmed.

‘Pretty inauspicious start,’ Louis piped up.

Niall scratched at his chin. ‘What does that mean again?’

‘Unlucky,’ replied Liam with a wave of his hand. ‘It was Zayn’s word of the day two months ago, I think?’

Harry clapped his back. ‘You’ve got a great memory, Liam. Why doesn’t it ever work when you’re trying to remember where you left your socks?’

‘Who scheduled with the moving company?’ asked Louis. He draped his arm over Harry and played with the confusing mass of straight-curly hair on the younger boy’s head. He glanced at Liam, then at Zayn. ‘I bet it was Zayn. This is something he’d do.’

‘Oi, I’m insulted,’ Zayn snapped. He looked around the bare lounge and his shoulders dropped. ‘We don’t even have cushions to throw at people!’

‘It _was_ Zayn,’ said Liam, and then rolled his eyes at the affronted look Zayn threw him. ‘You did.’

‘I specifically told them to come on the twelfth, which is today, a Saturday.’

The four boys stared at him and Zayn’s sure-as-fuck expression faltered. Harry laughingly hid his face into Louis’ shoulder. Niall burped out a guffaw.

‘Today’s the _ninth_ ,’ Louis clarified, mocking smile spreading his lips wide. ‘You should have let Paul handle everything, mate.’

Zayn frowned and pulled out his iPhone, pressing on the home button, and oh, today wasn’t the twelfth. He looked up at Liam, distress and guilt hovering by his eyes, and Liam shook his head, went over to Zayn, and hugged him.

‘I’m sorry,’ mumbled Zayn, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘I thought I’d done it right.’

Liam pulled back, that tiny line still between his eyebrows, but he didn’t look cross. Zayn bit his lower lip, relieved. He hated upsetting the other boy and just not because Liam pulled the most ridiculously pathetic face he’d ever seen.

‘There’s nothing to be done about it,’ Liam said eventually, leaving his arm over Zayn’s shoulders. ‘We’ll just have to let Evelyn take care of everything on Tuesday. We have interviews all day then, haven’t we?’

‘From sun up till sun down,’ said Louis, reaching for a piece of chicken from the plates arranged in front of him. Niall licked his fingers and nodded.

With another sigh, Liam dragged Zayn over to the other boys. He grabbed a plate of chicken and chips and pushed it into Zayn’s hands. Zayn frowned at his chips and let Niall steal a few until Liam swatted the other boy’s hand away.

‘Eat up, Zayn.’ Liam nudged him on the arm and smiled.

‘But we should be moving in today,’ Zayn said in a low tone, briefly glancing at Liam before looking away.

‘You are, though, sort of,’ Harry said. ‘The majority of your stuff’s just late.’

‘Didn’t get the memo, apparently,’ Niall said around a mouthful of food. He grabbed his beer can and took a long gulp.

Louis reached out to stroke Zayn’s hair and he automatically pulled away. Louis rolled his eyes. ‘Just think of it like a sleepover, mate.’

‘We can’t sleep here tonight,’ said Liam, picking at his own chicken. ‘Can we kip at your’s tonight?’

Louis and Harry exchanged a swift look before Louis turned regretful eyes at Liam. ‘Sorry, Li, you can’t. Er. Harry’s friends are coming and you know, shit hipster music, and, well, they’ll be passed out in the guest rooms from all the drugs they consume.’

The smile on Harry’s face twitched. ‘They will not. They’re not junkies, Louis.’

‘ _Hipsters_ , mate,’ said Louis with emphasis, as if that explained everything.

The dimple disappeared from Harry’s cheek and he whipped out his mobile and sent out what looked like a very emphatic text from the way he was hunched over and almost jabbing at the screen.

‘What was that?’ Louis demanded.

‘A text telling my mates to come round an hour earlier so we can get high and listen to crap music as soon as possible.’ Harry slipped his mobile in his pocket and stood up, looking at Zayn over his shoulder to say, ‘I’m going to get a glass of water. Anyone want one?’ without actually waiting for an answer as he left the living room.

Zayn frowned at Louis, who tossed his half-eaten chicken onto Niall’s plate before scrambling after Harry.

‘That was odd,’ Liam remarked in the silence left behind.

‘They’ve always been weird, Haz and Lou,’ said Niall as he sucked the spicy sauce from his fingers. Both Zayn and Liam gave him disapproving glances which he ignored, of course. ‘They were giggling in the car ride over, though. Meh. Who the fuck knows with those two?’

Liam made a thoughtful sound. ‘Can Zayn and I stay with you then?’

‘Why not go to a hotel?’ Niall blinked at Zayn expectantly.

‘We could,’ said Zayn, biting at a chip half-heartedly. ‘It’s just - ’

How to explain that Zayn had been looking forward to staying in their new house no matter how cluttered or unfinished? That the entire morning had made him keen for when they’d at least have the plasma TV and sofa set up so he and Liam could watch a film? That Zayn liked the settled, domestic feeling in his chest when he and Liam had been moving and unpacking their personal belongings in this big, brand-new house, something he’d rarely felt for his old flat, much less the endless parade of hotel rooms for the last three years? So Zayn merely shrugged and left Liam to answer that one because Liam was good at that.

‘I’m tired of hotel rooms,’ the other boy said, ‘and I’m certain Zayn is too. We’d like to stay with one of you, if we can’t sleep here.’

After a bit of chewing, Niall shook his head. ‘No can do, lads, my bird’s spending the weekend over at mine.’ A dreamy smile drifted across Niall’s face. ‘We’re going to get pissed and shag like rabbits. I bought a box of condoms just for this occassion.’ He shot Liam a vaguely rueful but mostly leering look.

Liam wrinkled his nose. ‘I thought you and Carrie were breaking up.’

‘We’re trying to make it work,’ said Niall seriously, but the corners of his lips were curling wickedly.

Zayn rolled his eyes fondly. ‘You’re trying to get one last fuck before you dump her, aren’t you?’

‘Niall, that’s so mean,’ Liam admonished.

Niall looked entirely unapologetic as he popped open a can of beer and forced it into Liam’s hand. ‘Here ya’ go, mate, something to loosen you up. And you don’t even like Carrie, Liam.

‘No, I think she’s, well - ’ Liam took a small sip. ‘She’s alright, if a little, er, determined at times. But you still shouldn’t - ’

‘She knows what this weekend is about, Li, relax,’ Niall cut in, giving Liam a thumbs up, ‘don’t be so nice about her. Carrie is rude and pushy, and she’s insulted each one of us at least once, I don’t know why we lasted for a month.’ After a pause, Niall added with a filthy grin, ‘Oh wait, it’s ‘cause she’s wild in bed.’

‘You’re a douche, Horan,’ Zayn said with a laugh, reaching over to give Niall a little slap on the cheek.

‘Who’s a douche? Surely not our little Irish leprechaun!’ came Louis’ loud, sharp voice, followed by Louis himself, striding into the room with a huge grin. Harry slinked after him, expression easy but his shoulders still somewhat hunched. Zayn caught his gaze and arched an eyebrow and Harry shrugged, waving his hand at Zayn discreetly. 

Something was definitely bothering Harry but like Zayn, Harry would only clam up if pressed. Zayn made a mental note to himself; he wouldn’t let this go. He turned his focus on Louis who had Niall in a headlock, only to then sneakily steal a big chunk of chicken and pop it into his mouth. Niall let out a battle cry and jumped after Louis, who tried to hide behind Zayn. Zayn protested when Niall crashed into him and they all rolled about in a tangle of limbs and shrieks.

Harry took a picture of them. ‘I wonder how pissed management will be if I Tweet this picture too.’

Liam shook his head and sighed. ‘I have no hope for you lot.’ Then he laughed and nudged at Harry’s knee. ‘Do it, Haz.’

Harry grinned down at Liam. ‘If Daddy says so.’

 

 

 

 

 

Harry was a little quiet as he helped Zayn carry the last of his boxes up to his room. Zayn pushed his tongue thoughtfully to the roof of his mouth as he kicked the door open, striding inside the very bare room with a sigh. He wouldn’t be sleeping here tonight, or even tomorrow night, unless he wanted to lie down on a bed of boxes. He dropped the stuff he was carrying and turned to look at Harry, who was stood with a box tucked under his arm whilst texting with his other hand.

Harry must’ve sensed his gaze because the younger boy’s eyes flicked up towards Zayn, an automatic smile filling his lips. ‘Yeah, mate?’

‘You,’ said Zayn, ‘what’s up with you?’

Harry tapped at his mobile some more before slipping it inside his pocket. He placed the box he carried on top of another one. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked, turning away to inspect the garden outside Zayn’s window. ‘This really is a brilliant place, Zayn. It’s private, too, so we can have, like, barbecues naked out there. What do you reckon?’

‘I think Li would add that under the "clothes at all times" clause in the Harry part of the rules,’ snorted Zayn, crouching down next to his bags and fishing out his pack of cigarettes. ‘Open the window, will you? Thanks.’ He lit up a fag and went over to Harry, leaning against the window frame and blowing out a trail of smoke.

‘Have you come to an agreement yet on the smoking?’ asked Harry, one corner of his mouth inching with a smirk.

Zayn made a face. ‘We had a row this morning; still no smoking indoors, but I convinced him that I could smoke in my room because, well, it’s my room.’

‘You two don’t row, you have discussions where you talk about the pros and cons,’ Harry teased, tickling Zayn’s ear with a finger. Zayn blew a smoke ring at his face.

‘Don’t make us sound daft.’

‘You are, though.’ Harry chuckled and crossed his arms, directing his gaze outside, a small smile on his lips. ‘You’re going to be attached at the hip after this, even more so than you already are.’

‘Are you jealous?’

Harry sighed heavily, falling to lean against the windowframe with his face twisted in a ridiculous pout. ‘Yes. You’ve always been such a Liam fanboy from the very start.’

Cooing, Zayn reached out to run his fingers through Harry’s hair. ‘You’re still my _second_ favourite though, Haz.’

‘Don’t tell Lou or Niall, they still argue about which one of them is your number one.’

Zayn snickered and took a deep pull, savouring the addictive burn at the back of his throat. ‘They’re delusional, those two. Especially Lou.’

‘Hmmmm,’ Harry mumbled, smile tightening a little. ‘Yeah, he can be.’ Then he shook his head and turned to Zayn with a dimpled grin. ‘Hey, I know, you could have a sleepover here.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah, I saw Li’s sleeping bag in his bedroom earlier, you can use that and stay here. Like camping, only indoors. Light a few candles, make a homemade tent of sorts; it’ll be _so_ romantic.’

‘Yeah, I don’t think we’re going for that,’ said Zayn, smiling slightly. He did like the idea, though. It was better than booking a hotel for the next few nights. Zayn straightened and searched the room for one of his ashtrays, which he found tucked into a box of his hats, for some reason. He made sure to put out his fag and left the ashtray on top of the box.

He pulled open the bedroom door and stuck out his head. ‘Hey, Li, come out for a second.’

Liam did, looking out of his bedroom just across from Zayn’s. Zayn could hear Louis and Niall having a lively debate about the Manchester United match later on in the afternoon.

‘What is it?’

‘Harry said we ought to just stay here tonight, have a pseudo-indoor camping thing. You have a sleeping bag with you, right?’

‘Yeah,’ said Liam slowly, putting his thinking face on. A slow smile bunched up his cheeks and he nodded. ‘I think that’s ace. Do you wanna?’

Zayn grinned. ‘Wouldn’t be telling you if I didn’t.’

‘Cool.’ Liam gave him his dorky half-wave and disappeared inside. 'I am going to cry once Lukaku leaves West Brom when the season's over,' Zayn heard him say. 

 Zayn rolled his eyes. Well, at least that was sorted. 

 

 

 

 

 

Liam arranged the sleeping bag in the middle of the floor. There weren’t any curtains yet so the room was awash with moonlight. Zayn rummaged in his suitcase for his toiletries bag and grabbed a faded sleep shirt and pyjama bottoms. He sat back on his hunches and watched Liam fuss with the sleeping bag for a few moments.

‘Hey, Li, I’ll head to the bath first,’ said Zayn, pushing up on his feet. He slung the clothes over one shoulder.

Liam waved a hand at him. ‘Go ahead, mate. I think I saw a few duvets in the hall cupboard. If it’s clean enough, we could use it.’

Zayn wrinkled his nose as he made his way out of his art room; the thought made a small smile flit across his face. He genuinely did not fancy himself as an artist but the idea of an art room had been too good to pass up, especially with the way Liam had looked at him as if an art room was a given, why even question it. It would be more like Zayn’s private space, really, where he could curl in the silence and either draw, read, or have a nap. The only sort of artwork in the room would be his doodles and caricatures, but Liam would probably still gush over them and insist they be displayed up on the walls. His best mate was brilliant like that.

The nearest bathroom was in between two of the guest rooms and Zayn made a mental note to put the lads in the other rooms upstairs. He didn’t need them constantly running down the corridors and shouting when he was trying to paint - or nap.

He took his time under the shower, sluicing off the sweat and hard work of the day. It was disappointing that they hadn’t officially moved in yet, and Zayn had felt rotten for putting that unhappy look on Liam’s face because of his cock up. He’d wanted to do this whole moving thing with Liam properly, without their assistants and management doing it for them, and Liam had been completely up for it as well, choosing most of the furniture and letting Zayn bully him into accepting the interior designs for the house.

There was a tiny part of Zayn that was doubtful about the whole thing. It wasn’t Liam; of course not, since he was the perfect person to live with. He was tidy, considerate, quiet, somewhat of a pushover if Zayn pouted enough, and he was _Liam_. Zayn loved him to death and if there was anyone in the world he’d spend all of his time with, that person was Liam.

The thing was - what if Liam left? What if he fell in love and wanted to live with this person? Liam would move out and Zayn would be alone. Zayn had planned on living by himself until Liam had suggested they do it together, and after that Zayn had latched on to the idea rather fiercely even if it _had_ taken a few weeks to grow on him. Now Zayn was completely attached to the idea of living with Liam. 

 _Bad form, Malik. It’s barely been a day and you already have separation anxiety_ , Zayn thought to himself with a small frown. It was true, anyway; Zayn always did miss Liam more than the other boys. The fact that he was a clingy friend would be worrying if Liam wan’t the same way - and wasn’t shy of telling the whole world about it. Zayn gave a fond smirk as he twisted the shower off, slicking back his hair to wring out the excess water.

Besides, there was the possibility that Liam might not even fall in love ever again, not after his scars from Danielle. She really had been quite the number. Zayn needed to watch out for the next person who might catch his best mate’s attention, make sure she was worthy of Liam.

‘Right, there’s as much chance of that happening as there is of Liam never falling in love again,’ muttered Zayn as he wiped off the steam from the oval-shaped mirror. He grabbed his toothbrush from his kit, squeezed out a dollop of Colgate, and brushed his teeth.

‘Ish dshn rawlly mashr shins thish ish Lish ishdea, obshly ish in it fo the long hawl,’ Zayn rambled to himself around a mouthful of foam and bristles. He rinsed his mouth and held the toothbrush under the tap. His reflection stared back at him, eyebrows slightly furrowed and skin pale. The hard light in this bath really washed him out. They should change the lights here. Zayn tugged on his fringe, watching as a drop of water slid down the slope of his shoulder, before grabbing a towel and scrubbing it over his head. He tugged on his sleep clothes, messed with his hair until it didn’t look like he’d put on a sodden feather duster for a hat, and went back to his art room.

Liam was already wrapped in the mint-coloured duvet laid out on the floor. The lights were off but the room was still fairly bright, moonlight streaming in through the unadorned windows. Liam looked up from where he was staring at his laptop. ‘I’m glad we have separate bathrooms if it takes you an hour to get ready for bed,’ Liam told him with a fond grin.

Zayn dropped his toiletries bag on the floor and padded over to where Liam was, lightly kicking him away so he could burrow under the covers. The duvet carried that brand-new plastic smell Zayn disliked, and he inched closer until he could catch a whiff of Liam’s satsuma body wash.

‘It’s because I can’t easily reach my back to wash it,’ said Zayn, lowering his head slightly so he could squint at the bright glare of the laptop. ‘Is that the latest episode of Downton Abbey?’

‘Shhhh, Violet is talking,’ Liam shushed, eyes glued to the screen. Maggie Smith did her magic and amusement rumbled in Liam’s chest. ‘She’s such a laugh.’

‘I can’t believe Louis managed to convert you to this programme.’

‘It’s compelling, alright?’

‘Nice word. I think I want to paint my room. What colour should I go for?’

Liam shuffled back until he could look Zayn in the eyes. ‘That’s random.’

‘No, it’s called making conversation,’ retorted Zayn in an easy tone. He glanced at the screen where the Grantham family were playing cricket; Zayn disliked physical sports but cricket was just hideously boring to him. He knew Liam wasn’t fond of the sport but he still tuned in to Radio 5 Live for test matches whenever he got the chance and then would be engrossed in a chat with Harry about it afterwards; Zayn would never understand that.

‘You should do my room as well, then,’ Liam was saying, and Zayn looked at him with a smirk. Liam rolled his eyes. ‘I like purple, but would it be too dark, though?’

‘We were discussing my room, Li, not yours.’

‘And we will, in a minute,’ said Liam, offering a small smile.

Zayn sighed and pictured Liam’s bedroom in his mind. After a moment’s pause, he said, ‘We could paint just two of the walls and keep the rest of it in its original colour. Where do you plan on putting the bed?’

‘Erm, parallel to the wardrobe.’

‘Yeah, that could work, and your bed frame and table are wooden, too, right? It would look good against the dark purple. Good thing you chose a light-coloured carpet as well.’

There was a snort near Zayn’s right ear and he opened his eyes, turning until he was lying on his side. A wide smile crossed Liam’s face, cheeks and teeth and all. ‘Am I paying for two interior designers now?’

‘Pro bono, babe. You’d have to dig deep to afford me.’ Zayn stuck the tip of his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, grin teasing.

‘You are such a knob, Malik.’ Liam rolled his eyes and lightly kicked Zayn’s shin with his socked foot. His eyes slipped back to his laptop, where the credits were rolling. ‘You made me miss the ending!’

A yawn forced its way out of Zayn and onto Liam’s shoulder where he had his face tucked against. His eyes fell shut. ‘Not my fault you got distracted.’

There was the sound of the laptop being closed. ‘Yes it is.’ Liam’s voice  was lower, a rumble under Zayn’s cheek.

‘First night in our brand new empty house,’ mumbled Zayn. The lingering imprint of moonlight was fading behind his eyelids. He took a breath of Liam’s citrus scent and yawned again. ‘We ought to mark it on the calendar. Celebrate it next year with a massive do. Oh. Niall asked about a house-warming party. We should do one, but only after our furniture arrives.’

‘You’re rambling,’ said Liam, and there were gentle fingers tucking the duvet tighter around Zayn, ‘but yeah, that’s a great idea. We can’t have our guests sat on the floor, can we?’

‘Mum’s going to be horrified,’ said Zayn. ‘Goodnight, Li. I’m glad you’re here; don’t know if I’d like being here after my furniture didn’t show up and I was all alone.’

‘Me too,’ replied Liam, and he gave Zayn’s shoulder a light squeeze. ‘I’d let you sleep in my flat for the night, anyway, if that happened.’

‘Cool. I’ll draw you a comic in gratitude,’ Zayn meant to say but he was already sinking into oblivion.

 

 

 

 

 

Something was wrong because Zayn was waking up and sunlight was trying to burn through his closed eyelids and one side of his body was lying on something hard. He grunted and buried his face into warm skin. Skin.

God, had he let someone sleep over last night? _Did_ he have someone over last night? He couldn’t remember and Zayn cracked his eyes open and was immediately confronted by a familiar birthmark. A sigh of relief escaped his lips, memories of yesterday coming to the forefront of his mind. For a moment he’d thought he had invited someone over during the first night he and Liam spent at their house. That would have been inappropriate.

His sigh made Liam stir, lips puckering in a sleepy pout as he rolled away from Zayn and the nest of blankets they slept on. Liam gently knocked his forehead on the floor when he ran out of sleeping bag which was acting as their pillow.

‘Bloody hell,’ Liam groaned. ‘S’cold, the floor.’

Zayn laughed softly, his voice still scratchy with sleep, and reached over to pet Liam’s head. ‘That was funny, Li.’

‘Shut up,’ mumbled the other boy as he slowly got up to his feet. He looked around the room, fists rubbing at both eyes. His gaze settled on Zayn, who yawned and scratched at his belly, looking back at Liam.

Liam blinked and then suddenly beamed, going from sleepy to wide awake in a second flat. ‘Morning, Zayn.’

Zayn groaned and buried his face in the blankets. Bloody morning people. ‘G’me tea,’ he muttered thickly. ‘Full English. P’ease.’

‘M’gonna go on a run,’ said Liam from somewhere above him. ‘Check out the neighbourhood and stuff. Coming?’

‘I’d rather die,’ said Zayn flatly.

Liam snorted. ‘I’ll bring you back a sandwich, alright? Then we could do something fun, although I haven’t the foggiest what it will be. We haven’t got a TV yet. Maybe I will get you to swim in the pool after all.’

‘Good luck with that,’ Zayn mumbled, closing his eyes against the morning light and Liam’s perky manner. He heard Liam’s laughter drifting away from him. 

‘I'll take you up on that, Malik! Don't think I won't!’

Zayn smiled. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As you know, feedback is the lifeblood of writers. It is my ambrosia. *winks*


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